Runaway inflation or just Ebay-as-usual?

October 29, 2006 5:49 PM

Man turns $1 bill into over $11 via Ebay.No it's not old, it's just a used 2003-series bill that's not even in very good condition. It does has an interesting serial number, though. As does this other $1 bill also on Ebay with a current bid of $11. Of course if your dollar bills don't have particularly rare serial numbers it doesn't mean you can't Ebay your way to profit.
posted by clevershark (31 comments total)

$15120 penny
posted by aye at 5:59 PM on October 29, 2006

The only thing I could think of before I clicked the first link, was maybe these people played serial number poker and it would be a good hand for that game. Guessed wrong.
posted by inthe80s at 6:04 PM on October 29, 2006

I don't understand why that penny was valued so high? It's just a regular penny isn't it? Albeit in great condition.
posted by Justinian at 6:13 PM on October 29, 2006

I have a dollar bill that was printed upside down. On both sides.
posted by hal9k at 6:14 PM on October 29, 2006

great way to move some money around, eh Justinian? *wink* *wink* *nudge* *nudge*
posted by carsonb at 6:15 PM on October 29, 2006

There's an old brain teaser about a drug dealer who laundered money out of the country by buying a bunch of rare coins, putting them in his pocket, and just walking on the plane with them.
posted by ChasFile at 6:24 PM on October 29, 2006

A brain teaser? Like "he had 5.7 million dollars in exactly 37 coins, no two of which had equal value. What were those coins?"?
posted by aubilenon at 6:25 PM on October 29, 2006 [2 favorites]

Justinian: I did some reading - a coin that is labeled as "PCGS MS/PR-70" is, essentially, a perfect coin. Absolutely no imperfections, whatsoever. This particular penny is interesting due to the fact that it's just a normal penny (it was made in a batch with all other normal pennies) but it came out perfect, nonetheless. Since it wasn't a government-issued coin (as part of a proof set, for example), it seems as if this occurrence is incredibly rare. I know absolutely nothing about coins, so if someone wants to correct me, please do.
posted by jeresig at 6:25 PM on October 29, 2006

Interesting how the first guy wants the buyer to send an SASE for shipping the item, but then says "NEVER SEND CASH!" regarding payment.
posted by greatgefilte at 6:47 PM on October 29, 2006

Interesting how the first guy wants the buyer to send an SASE for shipping the item, but then says "NEVER SEND CASH!" regarding payment.

and in the last link, what's up with this:
I WILL NOT SHIP TO CANADA;
I WILL ALWAYS SHIP TO SOUTH AMERICA,
IF YOU ARE FROM A SOUTH AMERICAN COUNTRY PLEASE CONTACT ME THROUGH EBAY EMAIL FIRST, THANK YOU.

?
posted by carsonb at 6:56 PM on October 29, 2006

A good liar's poker bill would probably be worth it to some people.

With the eye and ear of a born storyteller, Michael Lewis shows us how things really worked on Wall Street. In the Salomon training program a roomful of aspirants is stunned speechless by the vitriolic profanity of the Human Piranha; out on the trading floor, bond traders throw telephones at the heads of underlings and Salomon chairman Gutfreund challenges his chief trader to a hand of liar's poker for one million dollars; around the world in London, Tokyo, and New York, bright young men like Michael Lewis, connected by telephones and computer terminals, swap gross jokes and find retail buyers for the staggering debt of individual companies or whole countries.

posted by caddis at 7:03 PM on October 29, 2006

That perfect penny is bizarre. I'm shocked it didn't get dinged just in normal distribution, since no one cares normally, and that someone actually noticed it in the wild.
posted by smackfu at 8:32 PM on October 29, 2006

So I'm curious — how is perfection defined for pennies?
posted by nebulawindphone at 8:45 PM on October 29, 2006

I wonder how much a bill with the lost numbers would go for...

or at least 9 of the 10
posted by logicpunk at 9:00 PM on October 29, 2006

ChasFile, it was done with rare stamps in the Audrey Hepburn movie, Charade and again in the remake, The Truth about Charlie.

I wonder how much my blue-inked silver certificate dollar bill is worth. Its cool looking and I've never seen another like it, but then, I haven't really been looking.
posted by fenriq at 9:03 PM on October 29, 2006

"There's one born every minute" comes to mind.
posted by sharpener at 11:00 PM on October 29, 2006

I have a united States Note. Most other bills seem to be Federal Reserve notes
posted by Cranberry at 12:11 AM on October 30, 2006

I have turned the UK pounds in my pocket from $1.40 to $1.90, just by watching six years of American deficit spending.
posted by rhymer at 1:34 AM on October 30, 2006 [2 favorites]

It does has an interesting serial number, though.

to see this grammar on the fp really bugs me.
posted by localhuman at 3:23 AM on October 30, 2006

I liked the TOS on the first auction linked to in the FPP. It definitely has a Tom Sawyerish feel to it.

Like everything else Ebay, I'm surprised that that seller didn't charge $20 to ship it. To his credit that he didn't. Still though the insurance levels were slightly amusing. So, go ahead and insure a series 2003 $1 bill for $100, and then see what happens if you try to make a claim if it gets lost in the mail.
posted by psmealey at 3:58 AM on October 30, 2006

$1 billion into $11?

Oh. $1 bill.
posted by lyam at 4:58 AM on October 30, 2006

If your dollar bills don't have particularly rare serial numbers...

Isn't each serial number by definition rare? Perhaps even one of a kind, like a snowflake.
posted by TedW at 5:02 AM on October 30, 2006

As part of my earthquake preps, I just got a stack of $300 (in singles) from the bank. Oughtta look for marketable bills, I guess...
posted by Heywood Mogroot at 8:01 AM on October 30, 2006

earthquake preps?
posted by caddis at 8:04 AM on October 30, 2006

Earthquake is particularly talented plus size stripper.
posted by I Foody at 8:45 AM on October 30, 2006

gold!
posted by sonofsamiam at 8:53 AM on October 30, 2006

earthquake preps?

I want enough cash on hand to get out of Dodge. Prolly should gotten 20's though.
posted by Heywood Mogroot at 9:06 AM on October 30, 2006

Buy some drugs such as cocain and stash them, then, they may become more fungible than the US dollar in coming years, and they will hold their value better.
posted by sonofsamiam at 9:26 AM on October 30, 2006

I knew a guy who used to work as a cashier at a convenience store. He would buy "interesting" bills out of the till all the time, and sell them on ebay for ridiculous profits (similar to this). It's absolutely crazy, the things that some people will collect.
posted by antifuse at 5:58 AM on October 31, 2006

$1 billion into $11?

No, that would be the Bush Administration.
posted by jonp72 at 6:55 AM on October 31, 2006

ZING!
posted by lyam at 8:10 AM on November 1, 2006